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by the staff of The Ridgewood Blog
Ridgewood NJ, the most controversial and despised member (former, thankfully) of the Village Council in decades has just publicly endorsed Paul Vagianos’ campaign for election in November to fill the unexpired Village Council term of Bernadette Walsh (who resigned due to a pending relocation out of state). The endorsement came by way of a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.
To the MANY taxpaying citizens who read The Blog,
This is our Letter to the Editor, Ridgewood News today (April 22, 2016)
Merriam-Webster defines TRUST as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something”. In this upcoming election for Village Council, we believe finding candidates worthy of resident’s trust must be the priority, as they will be the representative stewards of our Village at this most critical time.
Jeff Voigt, Bernadette Walsh and Ramon Hache are candidates we believe meet that test. Each has a deeply rooted connection to the Village and is running for Village Council for their own, personal reasons. Each has an independently developed vision for the future of Ridgewood, and each has expressed a willingness and desire to work alongside the continuing members of the Council to improve resident input and the transparency with which our Village Council operates.
We have clearly seen the negative results of a unified political bloc’s agenda running roughshod over the normal give and take of municipal government. Let’s go for something better this time around.
Ridgewood is in desperate need of a comprehensive, long-term vision for the future. We need candidates who want to be a part of leading a Ridgewood that will progress and grow without sacrificing everything we all love about this town-the charm, the friendly atmosphere, the excellent schools and the safety for our families. We need council members who will put resident’s interests first.
On May 10th, please vote for Jeff Voigt, Bernadette Walsh & Ramon Hache, and let’s get Ridgewood back on a path of trust in our local government.
Thank you.
Jim & Gail McCarthy
Dear Neighbors,
Over the past few weeks a number of the Schedler core members have had theopportunity to observe and evaluate the perspectives and agendas of the six candidates in the upcoming village council election. Based upon our meetings we hereby express oursupport for the candidacy of Jeff Voight, Ramon Hache and Bernadette Walsh.
Jeff, Ramon and Bernadette provide an honest, pragmatic, and hopeful insight into ourcommunity’s problems and needs. Their willingness to examine the issues and listen closely to the public’s questions and concerns, sets them apart from the other candidates’expected techniques and decisions. These candidates provide independent voices, but they have demonstrated that they will run a government of inclusion not just on the Schedler issue which impacts our neighborhood, but on all of the issues that impact the entire Village.
We are writing you to express our support for Jeff’s, Ramon’s and Bernadette’s respective campaigns, to encourage you to vote for them in the upcoming election and to spread word to others of the value of their policies and abilities. As a reminder, the election is on May 10.
Paul D’Arpa posted a more detailed response on the Friends of Schedler Facebook page
Dear Neighbors,
Over the past few weeks a number of the Schedler core members have had the opportunity to observe and evaluate the perspectives and agendas of the six candidates in the upcoming village council election. Based upon our meetings we hereby express our support for the candidacy of Jeff Voight, Ramon Hache and Bernadette Walsh.
Jeff, Ramon and Bernadette provide an honest, pragmatic, and hopeful insight into our community’s problems and needs. Their willingness to examine the issues and listen closely to the public’s questions and concerns, sets them apart from the other candidates’ expected techniques and decisions. These candidates provide independent voices, but they have demonstrated that they will run a government of inclusion not just on the Schedler issue which impacts our neighborhood, but on all of the issues that impact the entire Village.
We are writing you to express our support for Jeff’s, Ramon’s and Bernadette’s respective campaigns, to encourage you to vote for them in the upcoming election and to spread word to others of the value of their policies and abilities. As a reminder, the election is on May 10.
Would you approve the construction of a 90-foot baseball diamond on the Schedler property? Why or why not?
Coghlan-Walsh: I have never been nor will I ever be in favor of a 90 foot baseball field on the Schedler property. The dangers of those balls going into the highway far outweigh the need for another baseball field.
Hache: As a father of three small children, I have serious concerns regarding the safety of a 90-foot baseball diamond on Schedler. We also have to consider the adverse impact on noise levels the clearing of the trees would have on nearby residences. Although I would prefer to have a passive park area on the site, I am willing to support the 60-foot diamond as proposed by Schedler residents. I would also support directing part of the $670,000 accumulated through the open space tax to repair and preserve the Schedler house. It could perhaps be used as a facility for community programs and activities, similar to how The Stable has been used next to Graydon.
Voigt: No. And you’d say no, too, if you realized that the only way a 90-foot diamond gets built there is if home plate is on Route 17. But more to the point is that all of this has an impact on the people who live there. We’re really a Village of neighborhoods and; respecting those neighborhoods and the people in them is important.
photo by Boyd Loving
Reader gives their take of the League of Women Voters Candidates Night .
Not much fireworks tonight – but a few immediate take aways about the three candidates supported by the Mayor and the developers..
Weitz is too busy to have gone to Council meetings during the past two years. And, he was too busy to vote. How the heck is he going to fulfill his duties should he be elected?
Willet is happy with the housing density because she believes it is a good thing to bring more students into our Ridgewood school system. At the same time, she is going to hold down costs. Not quite sure how she is going to balance the two. She doesn’t quite seem balanced.
Brooks is in favor of nepotism rule, and apparently he does not think anyone should be deleted if they have a connection to someone holding a public position. He forgot to mention his wife is the planning board attorney so he did not explain how he is going to be able to vote on anything important that comes before the council in the next couple of years should he somehow be elected. Frankly, he seems a bit dull.
Many were very impressed with Hache, his honesty about what can and cannot be done in Ridgewood with regard to high density, not saying he will try to limit it, that means nothing. Hache did not pander for votes.
I thought he was right to leave option open about eminent domain on the toxic site of town garage. It’s vital that toxic site be cleaned up, if a private owner cannot be made to do it; taxpayers must pay for it.
The town should not sell our water facilities and lose control.
Hache stated most clearly on not wanting a large field at Schedler.
Rurik was out of order when he spoke; he had to be told to sit down, because he couldn’t stick to the issues. He had to beg Walsh for a personal clarification that she was not insulting his wife’s work at Twinney’s.
That’s what we need at council meetings. A presiding official to monitor those who insult others, like Rurik and to tell them to sit down immediately. Those who cannot stick to the issues.
Then civility can be restored.
Please take these events serious only a few votes in 2012 launched the Village into this disastrous mess.
2012 Ridgewood Election Results
Albert J. Pucciarelli – 2078
Keith Killion – 1711
Rissell R Forenza – 817
Paul Aronsohn – 2479
Mary Jane Shinozuka – 1484
Gwenn H Hauck – 1727
Final voting registration for the May 10th Municipal Election is April 19th. To register to vote, individuals may register in the Village Clerk’s office from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM or in the Ridgewood Library Lobby on April 19th from 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM.
Hi All!
I want to say thank you so much to everyone who supported my choice to run for Village Council.
I really wanted to do it and to be a part of helping the town I love, preserve its character. I wanted to be a part of the process and I still will be.
The election is a numbers game, and we had too many chefs in the soup. If someone had to take one for the team and step aside, I am happy to have been that person. If it enables stability, common sense, and independent thinking to return to our council, then it is for the best. I apologize for the years of laughs I won’t be there to provide you, but hey, you can’t win them all! Council meetings would surely have been more interesting with me involved- in a good way!
And I’m not done. I plan to run in 2 years, and do my part at that time.
Freeholder Candidate Bernie Walsh with Rep Scott Garrett
Support for Bernadette Walsh for Bergen County Freeholder
October 31, 2014 Last updated: Friday, October 31, 2014, 12:31 AM
The Ridgewood News
Print
Support for Bernadette Walsh
William M. Corcoran
To the Editor:
Like many of you, I have watched the political career of Ridgewood’s own Bernadette Walsh blossom. She served the Ridgewood Council with distinction. Her no nonsense style and friendly demeanor has made her firm yet approachable. Her decisions on the council were always backed with fact and thoughtfulness. We now have the opportunity to have her advocate for Ridgewood once again by helping elect her to the Bergen County Freeholder Board.
The Record endorses Robert Avery and Bernadette Walsh for Bergen County freeholder
The Record: Bergen County freeholders
OCTOBER 29, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014, 7:25 AM
THE RECORD
OPPORTUNITY beckons for Bergen County Republicans. Unlike last year, when Republicans were fighting merely to retain a minority of seats on the county Freeholder Board, the GOP can take control of the board by winning two open seats next Tuesday.
The Republican candidates are Robert Avery, a onetime Municipal Court judge in Ridgefield, and Bernadette Walsh, a former member of the Ridgewood Village Council.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-editorials/bergen-freeholders-1.1120629#sthash.bzx47yLI.dpuf
Bernadette Walsh campaigning with Congressmen Scott Garrett
Freeholder candidate has roots that run deep in Bergen County
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014, 3:20 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014, 3:34 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
To understand Bernadette Walsh, one of two Republican candidates for Bergen County freeholder, it helps to know the story of the “bamboo man.”
That’s the nickname her late father, James Coghlan, picked up in the 1960s when he and his wife, Mary, cultivated bamboo as part of their greenhouse nursery business in Upper Saddle River.
They grew and sold bamboo to people like the philanthropist Doris Duke and to places like the now defunct Jungle Habitat in West Milford and the Polynesian exhibition at the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Queens.
James Coghlan wrote a book in 1965 called “The Story of Bamboo.” The couple even made an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.
Walsh was a small child when her parents closed the nursery to instead run a real estate and appraisal business near the train station in Ramsey for 25 years.
But their daughter recalled that time while talking about what she considers her proudest accomplishment in her four years as a Ridgewood councilwoman.
The self-described “tree hugger” helped revive the borough’s Shade Tree Commission, which had been dormant for many years. After Hurricanes Irene and Sandy toppled about 500 trees in town, Walsh said, people felt a need to be planting trees again.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/freeholder-candidate-has-roots-that-run-deep-in-bergen-county-1.1097931#sthash.FM1Dd9Np.dpuf
Where the Bergen County candidates stand: open space
SEPTEMBER 16, 2014, 12:34 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014, 12:44 PM
BY JOHN ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
There are 49 days left until Election Day. We continue our series on how the candidates for Bergen County Executive and Freeholder stand on the issues with the question of Open Space.
From The Bergen Beat Blog on NorthJersey.com
In May 2013, the Freeholders rejected the advice of an advisory panel that wanted the county to double its open space tax.
Panel members argued that the amount of funds generated by the tax is insufficient and noted that Bergen ranked last among the 21 New Jersey counties that have an open space tax.
They contend the competition for those funds will be increased now that Open Space funds can be used for so-called “Blue Acres” projects that acquire and demolish flood-prone properties.
This year, Bergen County was able to add $16.8 million to the fund by diverting Open Space funds for about 100 project where there was money left over or unspent.
Here’s the question posed to this year’s candidates:
Open Space advocates contend the county’s current fund is small compared to the number of competing projects, especially now that so-called “Blue Acres” projects are an approved use. What is your view on raising the county’s open space tax?
And here is what they had to say:
Freeholder and County Executive candidate James Tedesco (Democrat):
“While having the Open Space Tax set to at least one half cent would allow us to qualify for matching grants, it does place a greater burden on our residents.
“I feel that the voters deserve a say just as they had in the past and trust that they will vote to fund worthwhile projects.
“The open space program provides grants to every town in Bergen County that applies and gives municipalities the ability to pursue preservation and recreation projects they might not otherwise be able to fund.”
County Executive Kathleen Donovan (Republican)
“The focus on my administration has been doing more with less.
“While I feel that open space is important I felt raising the open space tax was not the prudent thing to do. Another factor that went into my decision was the fact that we will be collecting unspent and leftover funds from previous open space projects.
“This money will then go back into the general open space fund for use on new projects. While we will not be raising the open space tax the fund will have an injection of money.
“On a side note with regarding the Blue Acres money, the county DPW has partnered with municipalities such as Westwood in order to make their Blue Acres money go further.
“The county has come in as a shared service using our heavy equipment to tear down the homes purchased by the town. This allows the municipality to then use the money saved on the demolition to purchase more property.”
Freeholder candidate Bernadette Walsh (Republican):
“The Blue Acres funding is only relevant in select areas of the county that are negatively impacted by flooding. However, all of the 70 municipalities use the County Parks and Open Space areas.
“Working with the Municipalities to explore Federal granting opportunities to bring their individual open space plans to fruition is something I’d like to champion.”
Freeholder candidate Robert Avery (Republican):
“I am not in favor of raising the tax. As we know, our current rate is .25% of a penny and the state permits up to a one full penny rate. Something worth exploring here is that it may be time for the State to consider new legislation on the rate process, especially since Hurricane Sandy and Blue Acres.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/where-the-bergen-county-candidates-stand-open-space-1.1088995?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Wake%20Up%20Call%20NJ&utm_campaign=Wake%20Up%20Call#sthash.DnziTwyS.dpuf
